DEIB Deep Dive: Moving Beyond Surface-Level Initiatives
Unearth the real roots of workplace diversity: dig deep, plant seeds of change, and watch your organisation bloom with authentic inclusion.
In recent years, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) have become buzzwords. Many organisations have implemented DEIB initiatives, but often these efforts remain superficial. This post is looking into how we can move beyond surface-level DEIB initiatives to create lasting, meaningful change.
The Problem with Surface-Level Approaches
Many organisations believe they're addressing DEIB by hosting an annual diversity day or providing a one-off unconscious bias training. Whilst well-intentioned, these efforts often fall short of creating actual, real change. They may raise awareness temporarily, but they rarely lead to sustained improvements in workplace culture or representation.
Surface-level initiatives can even be counterproductive. They may create the illusion of progress without addressing underlying systemic issues. This can lead to frustration among employees who see these efforts as mere 'box-ticking' exercises.
Key Components of Meaningful DEIB Strategies
To move beyond surface-level initiatives, organisations need to embed DEIB into every aspect of their operations. There’s no one-size-fits-all. It depends on your organisation, the people in it and your culture, but here are some ideas to think about:
Organisational Culture Transformation: DEIB should be woven into the fabric of your organisation's culture. This means reassessing and potentially reshaping core values, behaviours, and practices to foster an inclusive environment.
Leadership Commitment and Accountability: Change starts at the top. Leaders must not only champion DEIB efforts but also be held accountable for progress. This could involve tying DEIB goals to performance evaluations and compensation. Watch out for this being gamed though. No one wants to hire (or be hired as) the “diversity hire”.
Data-Driven Approach: Use data to identify gaps, set measurable goals, and track progress. Regular diversity audits can provide insights into areas needing improvement.
Inclusive Recruitment and Retention Practices: Review your entire talent management process through a DEIB lens. This includes job descriptions, sourcing strategies, interview processes, and promotion criteria. Even small things like job titles, or candidate names can have an affect.
Continuous Education and Awareness: One-off training sessions aren't enough. Implement ongoing education programmes that keep DEIB in focus and provide practical skills for inclusive behaviour.
Employee Resource Groups (ERGs): Support and empower ERGs to provide community, mentorship, and valuable insights to the organisation.
Practical Steps for HR Professionals
As an HR professional, you obviously play a crucial role in driving DEIB initiatives. Here are some practical steps you can take:
Conduct a DEIB Audit: Assess your current state. Look at demographics across all levels, review policies and practices, and gather employee feedback.
Develop a Comprehensive Strategy: Based on your audit, create a long-term DEIB strategy with clear goals and metrics.
Integrate DEIB into All HR Processes: From recruitment to performance management, ensure DEIB considerations are part of every HR function.
Implement Ongoing Feedback Mechanisms: Create safe channels for employees to provide feedback on DEIB issues.
Foster Inclusive Leadership: Provide training and support to help leaders model inclusive behaviours and drive DEIB in their teams.
Common Challenges
Implementing deep DEIB initiatives isn't without its challenges. Some employees may feel threatened by DEIB efforts. Address this through open communication, emphasising how DEIB benefits everyone - be extremely transparent and lay it out plainly. Some will view DEIB in the wrong light otherwise.
DEIB work requires time and budget. Make the business case for how DEIB contributes to organisational success to secure necessary resources. Often the benefits of a robust DEIB framework won’t be able to be counted in dollars, so be mindful of the additional benefits it brings.
It sounds trite, for sure, but DEIB is a journey, not a destination. Keep momentum by regularly communicating progress and celebrating wins, big and small. You won’t get it right straight away and there’s no shortcuts to success. In fact, this kind of change is almost entirely cultural and you know as well as I that cultural change can take a long time.
DEIB work can surface conflicting viewpoints. Create spaces for respectful dialogue and focus on shared goals. There will always be naysayers and those that want to shut you down - it’s a fact of life - and this kind of topic can get people really fired up. Make sure you’ve got a set of talking points and standard rebuttals to the usual, anti-DEIB crowd.
The Business Case for Deep DEIB Initiatives
Investing in meaningful DEIB initiatives isn't just the right thing to do—it's good for business. Research consistently shows that diverse and inclusive organisations outperform their peers. Benefits include:
Improved Innovation: Diverse teams bring varied perspectives, leading to more creative problem-solving.
Enhanced Employee Engagement: When people feel they belong, they're more engaged and productive.
Better Customer Understanding: A diverse workforce can better understand and serve diverse customer bases.
Positive Brand Impact: Strong DEIB practices can enhance your employer brand and company reputation.
Moving Forward
Creating real change in DEIB requires more than surface-level initiatives. It demands a deep commitment to transformation at all levels of the organisation. As HR professionals, we have the opportunity—and the responsibility—to lead this change.
Remember, DEIB work is ongoing. It requires constant learning, unlearning, and relearning. Be patient with the process, but remain steadfast in your commitment. By moving beyond surface-level initiatives, we can create workplaces where everyone truly feels they belong and can thrive.
The journey towards meaningful DEIB may be challenging, but the rewards—for individuals, organisations, and society (but mostly individuals) — are immeasurable.
From the community
Some interesting links from the #people Slack community:
Drew says: “Hi everyone, built a free job description scorer that is getting really good feedback, you can test it out here if you want on your open roles:
Shambhavee is hosting a virtual conference, “Focusing on how AI is revolutionizing employee engagement and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and assessing your own AI readiness.” - https://lu.ma/hrorjp0c
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Love this Mike! Sharing with you my thoughts on this - I see the big problem on why DEIB programs are not finding enough ground is because of the lack of rooting principles that are universal to all organisations. DEIB programs should be about deliberately influencing the emotional enhancers of performative organisational cultures: Belonging, Engagement & Happiness at Work, Equity & Fairness as well as Trust & Psych. Safety (BEET). These are deep collective sentiments needed as forces to create transformational change in an organization, in my humble opinion and experience.
So love that you used the image of planting a seed. I use the analogy of the beetroot: The Root of Culture:
The beetroot is a fun analogy for our BEET Framework. It grows in the depths, silently absorbing the nutrients, enriching itself, and giving us the opportunity to ask, “Why?” and to listen attentively to the answers that emerge. It’s in these depths, in these intricate root systems, that we find the true essence of our culture and the sentiment and emotional perceptions that indicate the levels of inclusivity within our workspace. And it is really healthy to take its nutrients in! More about my BEET Framework you can find here: https://medium.com/@lily.kriegs-happinesswhisperer/assessing-impact-in-dei-b-the-beet-framework-for-collective-emotional-insight-dafde8484b5b Let me know what you think!